Athersys and Aspire Capital Fund Terminate Relationship

Athersys, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATHX) today announced that its equity purchase agreement with Aspire Capital Fund LLC (Aspire Capital) has been terminated. The Company continues to evaluate alternative financing options to support continuing operations. After several discussions with Aspire Capital, Athersys received notice on July 6, 2022 of termination of the equity purchase agreement, effective immediately. The equity purchase agreement had been in place since May 12, 2022.

“As we execute on our transformation plan, which includes reducing expenses across several areas, we will continue to explore financing options that we believe are in the best interest of our shareholders. We want to thank Aspire for their support over the past decade,” commented Dan Camardo, Chief Executive Officer of Athersys. “We will provide a more detailed business update at our upcoming annual stockholder meeting on July 28, 2022,” concluded Mr. Camardo.

In addition, while the Company searches for a permanent Chief Financial Officer, the Company has designated Mr. Camardo as the Company’s Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer. Mr. Camardo will not receive any additional compensation or benefits in connection with this designation.

About Athersys

Athersys is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of therapeutic product candidates designed to extend and enhance the quality of human life. The Company is developing its MultiStem^® cell therapy product, a patented, adult-derived “off-the-shelf” stem cell product, initially for disease indications in the neurological, inflammatory and immune, cardiovascular and other critical care indications and has several ongoing clinical trials evaluating this potential regenerative medicine product. Athersys has forged strategic partnerships and a broad network of collaborations to further advance MultiStem cell therapy toward commercialization. Investors and others should note that we may post information about the Company on our website at www.athersys.com and/or on our accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media platforms. It is possible that the postings could include information deemed to be material information. Therefore, we encourage investors, the media and others interested in the Company to review the information we post on our website at www.athersys.com and on our social media accounts. Follow Athersys on Twitter at www.twitter.com/athersys. Information that we may post about the Company on our website and/or on our accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media platforms may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained on our website and/or on our accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other social media platforms, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, potential cost-savings from our restructuring and expected reductions of operating expenses. We have attempted to identify forward-looking statements by using such words as “anticipates,” “believes,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “potential,” “should,” “suggest,” “will,” or other similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are only predictions and are largely based on our current expectations. A number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors could affect the accuracy of these statements. The following risks and uncertainties may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements: our ability to raise capital to fund our operations in the near term, including, but not limited to, our ability to raise financing and to continue as a going concern; our ability to enter into a partnership for the co-development and co-commercialization of MultiStem; our ability to successfully implement our transformation plan, including our ability to reduce expenses; and the risks mentioned elsewhere in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 under Item 1A, “Risk Factors” and our other filings with the SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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